Equifax settlement: If you requested cash, there's now an extra step

Monday

There's now an additional step if you requested cash from Equifax as part of the credit bureau's mega-settlement over a data breach that exposed the private information of millions of Americans.

The company, which has repeatedly warned in recent weeks that too many people were asking for a cash payment instead of free credit monitoring, sent followup emails over the weekend, Lifehacker reports. In those messages, people who opted for money were told they must prove they currently have credit monitoring services by providing the name of the firm they use.

If you don't have credit monitoring on your own, perhaps from another breach, you must switch from the cash payment to the monitoring services Equifax is offering as part of the settlement.

The deadline to update your claim is Oct. 15. Failure to do so could mean your claim will be dismissed.

Equifax had initially said the cash payments would be $125 per person, but has since said that the amount of money will likely be far less because of intense demand.